Bruker to Acquire Center for Tribology

Tribology covers the gamut of the physical effects of surface-to-surface contact, including wear, friction and lubrication. CETR’s products help characterize nano-, micro- and macromechanical and tribological properties of materials under harsh environmental conditions such as high and low temperatures, humidity and vacuum. The company’s instruments are used in academic labs for fundamental materials research, where they have led to breakthroughs in studies of thin films, and they are used in industrial plants for quality control of ink-jet cartridges, razor blades, industrial oils and various other products.

CETR is projected to have calendar year 2011 revenues of more than $10 million and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) greater than $2 million. The transaction is expected to close at the end of the third quarter of 2011. After the closing, Bruker intends to integrate CETR’s management, operations, research and development, sales and support with its Nano Surfaces division. CETR is expected to become a separate tribology and indenting business, joining the current atomic force microscopy and stylus and optical metrology businesses in the Nano Surfaces division.

“CETR has been continuously and increasingly successful for nearly two decades in nanoindenting and microindenting, and in materials and tribology testing,” said Mark R. Munch, president of the Nano Surfaces division. “CETR customers are interested in mechanically testing the structure property relationships as they relate to tribology and nanomechanical properties just as Bruker Nano Surfaces division’s current customers want to use microscopy and metrology to measure topography and other surface properties.”